


Comfort was never his strong suit

by suzakukills



Category: Free!
Genre: Awkwardness, Comfort, Drunken Shenanigans, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-20 23:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2447018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzakukills/pseuds/suzakukills
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Comforting was never his strong suit. He had an idea of what was happening but it wasn't his place to say it, how pathetic could it be that there they stood almost too painfully aware of the fact that they were licking each other's wounds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort was never his strong suit

**Author's Note:**

> can't stop thinking about sou/nitori and how their mutual love for Rin is what brings them close in the first place.

Rin's in Australia when it happens, and Momo's at his house for the weekend, so it's Sousuke's phone ringing at 12:45 am.

Sousuke covers his head with his pillow, in an attempt to diminish the annoying sound of his cellphone and it seems to do nothing, as it keeps ringing. It stops for a bit, then it starts again, and it's so far away, down there in the desk, and even if he's in the bottom bunk instead of the top one it seems like an unreachable task.

"Shut up," he mumbles and turns around, turning his back to it and squeezing the pillow tighter above his face. 

It doesn't stop.

He sighs, and drowsily stands up, taking baby-like steps and dragging his feet towards the desk, putting his hand on the phone to silence it, but a ring of alarm in his mind resounds when he thinks it could be Rin -time difference and all. He rubs his eyes, to be able to look at the number flashing and he squirms when he's pretty sure he's read 'Nitori.' _  
_

The phone stops ringing in his hand, but he can already see the three missed calls pending and he leans back, sitting on the desk as he clumsily hits the re-dial button. 

"Yamazaki-senpai?" Nitori's voice is hesitant, and then he hiccups.  Sousuke says nothing, waiting for him to explain himself. "Yamazaki-senpai, i'm sorry. I had no one else to call, please come get me," and he's pleading, and he can barely make out the words properly and it takes Sousuke a few minutes of silence to figure out he's drunk.

He rubs his temple, saying nothing, his breathing over the receiver is all Nitori receives as a reply. "I, I'm sorry. Never mind. Sorry for waking you up," he mumbles after the long silence, and before he hangs up, Sousuke finally speaks. "Where are you?" 

He doesn't tell him he'll go, or to wait for him, but when he hangs up he puts his wallet in his pocket and puts on a sweat shirt. He still feels drowsy, but when he walks outside and the cold breeze hits him, he's fully awake. 

It takes him an hour and a half to get to the place where Nitori was, walking towards the station and miraculously hailing a cab to take him to the place where he'd called him from. A shady bar in the next town over.

When he arrives, Nitori's sitting down in the sidewalk and a clearly older guy seems to be attempting to pick him up. He's standing over him, money in his hands and he's waving it in front of him, his hand squeezing the younger boy's shoulder.

"He's underage," he barks, and the man looks up. Sousuke crosses his arms over his shoulder, towering over the forty year old and all the man in a suit can do is turn around and run the other way. 

Nitori, who seems to be still out of it, doesn't even look up, instead holding his knees closer to him with his arms around them, he buries his face in them, and his hands are almost purple from him being outside this long. 

The temperature was so, that Sousuke could actually see his breath while he talked. "Hey," he growls, kicking him softly and standing next to him, up on the sidewalk.

Nitori doesn't say anything. His face still looking down. The older boy walks in front of him, and it's when he looks at his trademark sneakers that he finally looks up, stumbling back and putting his hands on the sidewalk to look at him.

"It's dirty," the turquoise eyed boy growls, and pulls him up by the arm. The smaller boy's a lightweight in this state, and when he brings him up, he stumbled forward and ends up putting his arms around Sousuke's waist just to hold his balance. 

A minute goes by, and they're stuck like that. Nitori keeping his face close to Sousuke's chest, and his arms sloppily placed around his waist, he seeks refuge in his warmth.

"Let's go home," he's tempted to push him back, but he can feel how cold he is, and instead puts his hand on his head, pats him softly before pushing him with care and leading him to the sidewalk by the shoulder.

"Fuck. The cab left," the poor planning on his side had been wonderful. Here they were, downtown (and not a nice part of town mind you), at 2:30 am and in the next town over. With no way of getting back to the dorms unless they planned to walk. 

"I'm sorry," Nitori finally speaks. 

"Are you going to tell me why you're here?" Looking to both sides, Sousuke picked the left, seeming more safe to walk towards. They should probably start heading back, though judging Nitori's state it didn't seem like it was likely he could stand straight. Carrying him was no choice.

"I'm really sorry," he mumbled again, and stopped walking. Sousuke's sleeve tugged on, as the younger boy halted. "I'm so sorry," and his voice was breaking with every word, his breathing rapid, and from up there, he could see his tears.

There were no words he could say. Comforting was never his strong suit. He had an idea of what was happening but it wasn't his place to say it, how pathetic could it be that there they stood almost too painfully aware of the fact that they were licking each other's wounds.

"Stop crying," his hand reached out to him, pulling him close, and he zipped off his sweatshirt, to give Nitori more warmth as he hugged him, pulling his arms and putting them around his own waist. "You're going to get sick, idiot, we have tournaments coming up," his arms were stiff around him, and he rested his chin on the gray hair. Nitori's crying broke out.

He could feel his tears wet his thin undershirt, and he could hear him mumble incoherent things, and all he could do was stand still  in the middle of the street - with no onlookers- and let him cry his heart out. 

The cathartic effect of the crying, seemed to also be wearing off Nitori's buzz, and when people started exiting the bar, Sousuke pulled the boy back. "Let's go," he told him, and held his hand, leading him forward.

They had no place to go, and the trains wouldn't run until six in the morning. Sousuke felt thankful it was the weekend and they didn't have to be up for class. They needed to find a place to sleep it off and head back in the morning. Just because he'd found a taxi before, it didn't mean they'd have another miracle, and standing in the middle of the street like this would only risk them catching a cold.

His musings, and decisions, were put to an end when he caught sight of a place they could rest at. With one little exception. It was most definitely a love hotel. 

Better than nothing.

Checking in wasn't as difficult, with Nitori hiding his face and shying away behind him as he kept crying, and the fact that he looked more than old enough to be 20, and he had the cash to pay, meant no questions were asked and they were granted the room.

Nitori stops crying when they enter the room, simply because he's followed behind Sousuke without questioning where they're going and when he takes a look at the place, he panics. Immediately stepping back and bumping into Sousuke, who's still standing in the entrance and locking the door.

"Where- where are we?" he mumbles, and it's Sousuke who's wiping away the tears and snot from his face with his thumb, delicately and flicking his forehead, he scoffs, and Nitori feels embarrassed to be seen like this, he doesn't feel drunk anymore.

"You're paying for the room, by the way, so get all the rest you want," the older boy tells him, walking past him and taking off his sweatshirt and shoes and plopping down on the bed. Nitori doesn't say anything, relieved that he isn't asking any questions but anxious that it's because he already knows why.

"I'm sorry," Nitori tells him, taking off his shoes and jacket as well, folding it nicely to leave it on top of the desk. "What are you folding that for? I've been to your dorm, it's a mess," Sousuke's got no tact, and he sits back on the bed, bouncing on it and laughing at how stiff it is. The bed sheets seemed clean enough.

"I just..."

"It's Rin's doing, huh, guess being his roommate for a year leaves you with such habits," and he isn't teasing him or mocking him, the way he speaks is so casual. It makes Nitori jealous, that he can know so much of Rin, it's so ridiculous to wish he'd been born earlier, just one year and maybe he'd be the one to---

"Stop thinking stupid things," Sousuke commands him, and takes out his phone to set the alarm for them to wake up early. "The trains start running at six, so get some sleep, you look terrible."

"I didn't think you'd come, Yamazaki-senpai," the slinks to the edge of the bed and sits down, shoulders slumped and feeling ashamed for his earlier display. "I'll wash your shirt tomorrow too."

"Yeah, it's filled with your snot and tears."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

"Do you ever stop apologising? I mean it's sort of annoying."

He knows his words have no malice, but it's enough to send him over the edge again and he can feel his eyes sting and the tears begin to build up, and no matter what he doesn't want to let him see him cry. So he grits his teeth, and his grip on the bedsheet tighten and he's clinging so hard that his knuckles are white, and he looks down, trying to stop the tears from falling, but it's useless.

"Hey, stop," Sousuke sighs, and feels defeated at just how much tears that small body has. He stands up, and circles the bed, to sit down on the edge next to Nitori, who faces away as quickly as he can, but he can see the red in his cheeks. "I said stop," he growls, but it only serves to make him feel more embarrassed and he holds his face with his hands, crying. 

"How can so many tears come out of your tiny body, seriously," he shakes his head in disbelief, and at that moment all he feels is envy. Envy that he can be so honest with himself and his feelings and he can cry so openly. "Nitori," he calls him, but the boy doesn't turn around.

"Nitori," he calls again with no response. He changes positions, kneels in front of him and tilts his head up, his blue eyes looking even more clear with so many tears in them. "It'll go away. The pain will go away," and his expression softens as he speaks, and he speaks from experience. "Now clean your face, you look like shit. We need to sleep, okay."

"What do you know?" He asks, when Sousuke's already stood up and heading back to the side of the bed. "Hmm?"

"I said what do you know?" he's wiping his face, and the look he's giving him is one full of accusation. "What do you know of the pain and it going away, he picked you. He chose you. Just like that,  he switched rooms and left like my feelings never existed." 

"Nitori. Stop."

"You know, Yamazaki-senpai, I think the cruelest thing someone can do is ignore your feelings. It's not rejecting them, it's outright denying they exist. I never expected anything, but why is it that his smiles and his happiness, and all of it has to be yours, when I..."

Sousuke crawls across the bed, and with his strength he yanks him from the edge, Nitori falls on his back, and Sousuke's looking down at him, knees on the bed and arms to the sides of him, trapping him beneath him. His expression is akin to the spiteful eyes that Rin used to have, and Nitori can feel himself shiver underneath him, the gentleness and casualness from before is gone.

"Stop running your mouth, kid," Sousuke tells him, and dips down to kiss him. It isn't delicate, it's more like a punishment, and Nitori doesn't respond at first. But he doesn't let him, and even though his weight isn't falling on him, he can feel all of his strength in one touch of the lips. His eyes are open, when he kisses him and after a few seconds, he finally kisses him back. Shy, unsure, but his lips move to Sousuke's pace, and then he breaks it off, biting his lower lip and pulling it back with him. 

"He chose me? Don't make me laugh. You don't know anything," Sousuke growls, and moves from on top of him, lying down next to him, and they both say nothing more. Looking at the shitty ceiling of the run down hotel room. Their breathing is all the sound that accompanies them, and Nitori can't stop himself from touching his lips and feel them burn.

"I actually envy you for being so open about your feelings. I could never do that. Also, you kiss like a girl," Sousuke adds, and laughter erupts in the room, and it's Nitori who's laughing but after a while it's Sousuke too. 

"I didn't know there was a way to kiss like a girl or like a boy," he speaks up after their laughing fit, and he's still sniveling but when Sousuke peers from the side, he can see him smile, and it feels like a weight has been lifted off of him. He didn't even know it could him feel  _anything other than pity_  to see the kid so thorn up, yet it had. He wondered if Rin had any idea of how cute the boy could be.

"Shut up, go clean your face and let's go to bed." 

When Nitori returns from the bathroom, Sousuke's already on his side sleeping, turning his back to him. "Thank you," he whispers in his ear, and seeing him breathe rhythmically and assuming he's asleep, he bends down to place an awkward kiss at the corner of his mouth.  

He turns around, but an arm stops him. In a sudden movement, he's on top of Sousuke. "Pay attention," he murmurs, and keeping his hands on Nitori's waist, he pushes his weight down on top of him, as he pulls him in for a kiss. It's nothing like the one before. His lips move slowly, and he's moving his head to the side too, changing the angle, and when Nitori wants to part for air, he slips his tongue inside his mouth, letting them touch and drawing back with a slight nibble to his lips.

"That's how you do it," he whispers in his ear, and Nitori gulps, because he'd kissed before. But, he felt like this was his first kiss. Like this was all a kiss should be.

"Now go to sleep," and with a bump, he was slid back to his place on bed and Sousuke was turning around, yet again.

Nitori wondered if Sousuke had ever kissed Rin like that. If they had been each other's first kiss, he sunk deeper into the pillow for thinking that.

"Yamazaki-senpai, thank you, really."

All he got in response was snoring. He smiled, biting his own lip and then touching it, still feeling the warmth of the older boy's lips. He wondered if Rin had any idea of how passionate Sousuke could be. 


End file.
